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With most of the runs coming in the early innings, a timely hit by the Rocket City Trash Pandas late in the game gave them an 8-6 win over the Biloxi Shuckers in the series opener Tuesday night at Toyota Field.

In a tie game of 6-6 and with a runner on first with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Trash Pandas outfielder Izzy Wilson launched a 434-foot home run over the right field wall to give the Trash Pandas an 8-6 lead.

Rocket City relievers Oliver Ortega and Connor Higgins took care of business in the eighth and ninth innings, each pitching one scoreless inning to seal the victory for the Trash Pandas.

Rocket City’s Dalton Pompey, batting second in the order, hit a solo home run down the right field line in the first inning. Later in the inning, Wilson added a two-run single to put the Trash Pandas up 3-0 after the first frame.

Biloxi scored two runs in the top of the second on a solo shot by Luis Castro and an RBI single by Cam Devanney off of Trash Pandas starting pitcher Denny Brady.

The Trash Pandas got their fourth run by way of a double steal. Ray-Patrick Didder successfully stole second. In the attempt to catch Didder stealing on the throw to second, Torii Hunter Jr. stole home and beat the tag to give the Trash Pandas a 4-2 advantage.

Biloxi tied things up at 4-4 in the top of the third, but that quickly vanished in the bottom half of the inning when Mitch Nay blasted a two-run home run, his seventh of the season, to put the Trash Pandas back up by two of 6-4.

That lead didn’t last long for the Trash Pandas. Biloxi once again tied up the score at 6-6 after a two-run single by Payton Henry.

In Brady’s four innings of work, he gave up six earned runs on nine hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Ryan Clark was the first reliever out of the bullpen for the Trash Pandas, pitching two scoreless innings to keep the game tied at 6-6. Ortega got the win for Rocket City with his two scoreless innings pitched, allowing just one hit with one strikeout. Higgins captured his fifth save of the season.

Wilson went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Wilson leads the league with 11 home runs and has hit a long ball in six of the last eight games. All nine Trash Pandas in the lineup had at least one hit.